Mark Broadbent is a chef who competed on Great British Menu, and beat reigning champion of the north, Marcus Wareing, but failed to reach Paris.

He was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and took his first venture in to cooking when he started at a restaurant in his local area called The Yew Tree.

Mark was executive chef at Oliver Peyton’s Isola restaurant before becoming executive head chef at London’s Bluebird restaurant in 2004. He left the restaurant in October 2008.

After 4 years at Bluebird, where he received a score of ten out of ten for the provenance of his food from respected critic Giles Coren of The Times he left the restaurant in 2008 and became a consultant for Jonathan Downey, who owns a number of members clubs in London as well as a hotel and bar in Chamonix, France. [2]. Mark is now cooking modern European cuisine in Chelsea at new restaurant Eighty-Six Fulham Road

The late, unlamented Cactus Blue stood on the Fulham Road as a testament to rugby shirt-wearing, blaring Hooray Henrys and Henriettas, knocking back mediocre cocktails and chewy overcooked burgers with moneyed aplomb. If it was an unimpressive institution, it nevertheless occupied a prime piece of Kensington real estate, and the opportunity for a proper, grown-up restaurant to open here was a tempting one.

Mark Broadbent: 43 at Eighty-Six
‘Bluebird devoured my soul,’ declares Mark Broadbent over the sound of builders, even before fresh coffee is poured. ‘On my last day there must have been 15 famous faces in the courtyard alone, from footballers to royalty – to the delight of the now ever present paps. I thought back to my first day when tumbleweed virtually blew through there. Four-and-a-half years on, turnover was approaching £6m.’

Rochdale-born Mark has been executive head chef at the Conran Bluebird restaurant since 2004.

Influenced by his relatives’ taste for fine dining, it didn’t take Mark long to decide he wanted to be a chef. He got a part-time job as a pot-washer at a restaurant opposite his school called the Yew Tree and was promoted to one of the sections after a week.

Catering college was the next step and alongside his studies he worked in various restaurants in the Manchester area. His big break came when, at the age of 17, he got a commis chef job in Knightsbridge at the Rembrandt hotel. He then worked at the five-star Britannia Intercontinental, spending three years working under David Nichols. Before taking his current job, Mark was executive chef at Oliver Peyton’s Isola.

Celebrity Chef, Mark Broadbent was in Southport today (Wednesday 26th August 2009) visiting his friend Paul Adams (owner of The Vincent Hotel). Mark was in the North West of England launching his new boutique style ice cream called ‘Icecreamists’ www.theicecreamists.com from his flagship in London. Mark is a chef who competed on Great British Menu, and beat reigning champion of the north, Marcus Wareing, but failed to reach Paris. He was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and took his first venture in to cooking when he started at a restaurant in his local area called The Yew Tree. After 4 years at the London based Bluebird’s in Chelsea, he left the restaurant in 2008 and became a consultant for Jonthan Downey, who owns a number of members clubs in London as well as a hotel and bar in Switzerland. ‘Icecreamists’ will soon become a worldwide brand name

Mark Broadbent, head chef of D&D London’s Chelsea restaurant Bluebird, has left the company, Caterersearch has learnt.

After four years at Bluebird, Broadbent said he had taken the restaurant as far as he could.

“I think I reinvented it as well as anyone had,” he told Caterersearch. “I think four years is long enough and I’ve left it in good shape.”

Broadbent is now doing consultancy work with Jonathan Downey, helping to write and oversee menus at the club owner’s various sites.

Downey has amassed four London members clubs, including the East Room in Shoreditch and Milk & Honey in Soho, over the past 10 years, as well as a boutique hotel and members’ bar in Chamonix, Switzerland.

“I’m still behind the stove and writing menus,” Broadbent said. “I’m still a chef, I’m just spreading my wings.”

The chef also revealed that he would like to return with his own restaurant when the financial situation has settled down.